Sea of Poppies

Following his sentencing, Neel’s circumstances change greatly, and his previous leniency is no longer afforded to him. Guards no longer treat him with courtesy, and he is now expected to clean his own apartment. Most difficult for him is that his food, which had been prepared at the Raskhali palace, was now coming from the jail; “this was the first time in all his years that he had ever eaten something that was prepared by hands of unknown caste,” and although desperately hungry, it is extremely difficult for him to force himself to eat (261). This distresses him, as he had always envisioned himself as not really caring about such things, yet he now finds the ideology of caste so ingrained in him that his body rejects the sustenance it requires as a result.

When he is notified of the sale of his properties, he demands to send a message to his family. Instead, to his shock, his wife and son arrive. They have arranged to move to Parimal’s place; this further shocks Neel, as it had never occurred to him that his main attendant had a place of his own. Neel promises that he will make it through his sentence so that he can return and they can move to a new country to start over.